Chapter Seventeen

The Beautiful Reinforcement

Leo thought Dakota was nuts for blowing a whistle that made NO sound! He knew if he could design a whistle, it would make these awesome vibrations that people would be able to hear all the way on the other side of the world.

But he didn't have time to see the results because he ran off. And no, it wasn't because he was being a coward. Leo knew they couldn't face an army of sea demons and a giant! Sustaining that fire had nearly taken all of his energy and he couldn't deal with that type of exhaustion in the middle of the fight.

No.

They needed something that wouldn't tire. Something he had designed just for this type of battle.

The Argo II was still anchored in the field about two and a half miles down.

Leo raced up the stairs to the deck and instantly grabbed the captain's wheel. He felt everything respond to his touch and he raised the anchor. The ship slowly hovered in the air and then he felt something cold touch his neck.

"Not another move or I'll cut your head off," said a female voice from behind him.

"Look," said Leo, quickly. "No…no need to be hasty. I'm just flying out."

Suddenly, the girl grabbed his arm and pulled them behind his back and turned him around. Leo's eyes widened in shock. This girl was mad gorgeous! Underneath her war helmet, she had long curly brown hair and bright eyes that turned about five different colors since Leo stared looking at her. They settled on sea green. She wore a purple shirt with gold armor breast plate, shoulder pads, and a skirt with boots. She looked like the cross between a gladiator and a tennis player. She had a sword in her left hand and Leo's arm in her right. They were very close.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Leo Valdez," he said, instantly.

The girl's eyebrow went up in suspicion.

He was starting to get warm around the ears. She was seriously pretty…

"And what are you doing here? On this ship? In this place?"

"I…I…." Leo really was heating up. His skin felt feverish and the girl let him go, holding her hand like she'd just been burned. "Sorry."

She held up the sword.

"I am Gwendolyn Prewitt, praetor of the Legion," she announced, "daughter of Venus, child of Rome, and border defender."

"Okay," said Leo, holding up both hands. "Listen, just calm down a sec. I don't want to fight you."

"Like you could," said Gwendolyn. And she attacked.

Leo didn't know how he was able to dodge that first strike. It seemed to happen in slow motion. The blade was coming down on his head and he dived and rolled across the floor, avoiding Gwendolyn. He rose to his feet, holding his trusty hammer. He couldn't hurt this girl. He knew who she was and where she was from. But she obviously didn't feel the same way about him.

She raised her arm and Leo saw that familiar tattoo he had come to notice belonged to all campers of Legion Camp, except Gwendolyn had a dove stamped across hers. She slashed a wide arc and Leo hit the tip of the blade with the edge of his hammer and it skidded out of her hand.

"Fine," she sneered. "I've always been a hand-to-hand kind of girl anyway."

She did a backward flip and kicked Leo in the chest, knocking him into the banister. She was seriously tough. She grabbed his arm and slammed it against the bronze railing sending pain up into his shoulder. He dropped his hammer and Gwendolyn back handed him, causing him to fall down a flight of stairs. He could feel a welt on his cheek. He was getting his butt kicked by a girl…a pretty one at that!

"Look," Leo said, getting to his hand. "My name is Leo Valdez and I said, I didn't want to fight you!"

Gwendolyn walked down the stairs.

"Fight or die!" she said.

"Fine," said Leo, pointing his finger. He concentrated and sent a bolt of fire toward one of the swinging lamps attached to the flagpoles. The fire burned through the rope and the lamp swung down and Gwendolyn noticed only too late. The lamp smacked into her, knocking her down the rest of the stairs and rolling to Leo's feet. He leaned to check her, but she grabbed his arm and flipped him over. She got to her feet.

"What is with you Legion girls and attacking?" he moaned, holding the back of his head in pain after hitting a bronze plaque.

"How did you produce that fire?" demanded Gwendolyn.

"I've been trying to tell you that," said Leo, getting to his feet. "I'm a half-blood."

"Half-blood," repeated Gwendolyn. "I have never seen you before."

"That's because I'm not from Legion Camp," said Leo. "I'm from Camp Half-Blood. Listen, it's a much longer story and it might take eight books to do it justice, but I'm a son of Hephaestus…Vulcan's Greek aspect."

"Vulcan's Greek aspect?" said Gwendolyn. "You lie!

"No," said Leo. "I'm not. My friend Jason Grace…"

"Jason Grace!" said Gwendolyn. "You know Jason?"

"Yes," said Leo. "And Dakota. And you have one of our campers, Percy Jackson."

"The son of Neptune," said Gwendolyn.

"Uh huh," said Leo. "Now, do you get it?"

"That doesn't explain what this ship is? Are you trying to attack us?"

"No," said Leo. "Look, I'm not explanation guy, but there is a giant, Polybotes at your camp border and we need to stop him!"

Gwendolyn looked out in the distance and her eyes widened with shock.

"Get this ship moving," she said. "NOW!"

Leo got back into the captain's chair and grabbed the wheel. He turned it sharply to the left and the Argo II took off across the night sky.

Soon, Polybotes loomed in the distance.

"The Giant," said Gwendolyn. "It can't be!"

A blanket of fog set in amongst the hills and Leo's vision was momentarily obscured. Suddenly, he was tense and more alert. And that's when he heard the wolves howling in the distance as they got closer. The whistle must've been a dog whistle, Leo thought. Only heard by animals.

He wasn't too keen to mess with wolves after their encounter with Lycaon and his wolf pack last winter.

He hovered with the Argo II.

Suddenly, out of the fog, he saw timber wolves, about the size of deer. They had gray fur and bright golden eyes, that looked warm and friendly. There about six of them and two of them were pared together, as they pulled bronze chariots.

Leo stared as ten people dressed in purple shirts, armor, and holding weapons descended the chariots.

The fog lifted and they came into better view. There were five boys and five girls. And Leo only had eyes on the girls. They were so fine. He wanted to go up to each of them and ask for their phone numbers, even though he had a gorgeous daughter of Venus seated next to him. He probably would've if this hadn't been a life or death situation.

"Giant!" yelled one of the new comers. He pointed a Celestial bronze sword.

Leo saw Annabeth look over and stood stock still, almost like she had been frozen in time.

"Percy!" she said, her voice carrying all the way up to the ship.

"More half-bloods," said Polybotes, with a grin as he roared with laughter. "Perfect! This is exactly what I hoped for! The children of Rome and Athens together. Oh, I will relish in this. You won't know what hit you. Don't you half-bloods see? The gods care NOTHING for you! They are your undoing! Join the Giants in our revenge and become the gods of a new era along side us!"

"I don't think so!" said one of the beautiful girls.

The giant's eyes locked on her.

"Daughter of Mars," said Polybotes. "Since you are the first to speak, you will be the first to feel the wrath of the Great Polybotes! ATTACK DAEMONS!"